Emergency dispatchers deserve to be recognized as “first responders,” a designation that opens up a broad new category of legal benefits for these vital workers. A bill currently moving through the Pennsylvania legislature would do just that. It would bring Pennsylvania in line with 18 other states that have already fully reclassified their 911 operators.

HB 1463, sponsored by State Rep. Jessica Benham, D-Carrick, amends Pennsylvania Title 35, a broad law concerning emergency management services that doesn’t always include 911 dispatchers as “first responders.” The Commonwealth currently includes law enforcement, firefighters, emergency medical services and public health personnel in the category of “first responders.”

911 operators triage the early stage of emergency responses. Their work is just as high-pressure, time-sensitive and traumatic as other emergency personnel, and the science backs it up. Vicarious trauma can be just as physically and mentally damaging as firsthand experience.

Examples of heroic 911 operators are everywhere. During the hourslong standoff in Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood last summer, 911 operators coordinated the safe removal of trapped neighbors.

In the trial of the 2018 synagogue shooting in Squirrel Hill, the first testimony came from the 911 operators who literally listened to victims’ last breaths.

State legislation to aid first responders is naturally popular, and numerous bills are currently working their way through Harrisburg. One would guarantee first responders receive workers’ compensation for post-traumatic stress injuries. Another would offer a three-year tax credit totaling $7,500 to all first responders. Without proper reclassification, 911 operators may not benefit from these measures.

Failing to reclassify 911 operators has already hurt them. In the early days of the COVID pandemic, 911 operators lost out on millions of federal dollars that were specifically set aside for first responders - despite these workers’ integral role in emergency response.

State measures supporting first responders are also a matter of practicality, rooted in a larger problem. Finding and retaining vital emergency response staff has long been a struggle, even before the pandemic.

A 2022 survey of hundreds of 911 dispatch centers found that facilities had an average job vacancy rate of 25%.

This puts massive pressure on the rest of the staff, and jeopardizes other agencies’ ability to perform their roles to the best of their ability.

Changing the law to make sure 911 operators receive the benefits they deserve would attract more people to the work and give a very needed boost to staff numbers. It would also ensure that future state legislation aiding first responders will benefit them.

Let’s protect our 911 dispatchers, and give them the title and benefits they deserve.

Pittsburgh Post Gazette